Brits Have It Right

At least our English counterparts know horror when they see it.

Earlier today, I wrote a post about a TIME online article in which Bambi is included as one of the "Top 25 Horror Movies of All Time."

It was refreshing to read just a few hours later about a recent British poll that voted on the scariest movies of all time. Specifically, the "HMV 2007 Annual Horror Poll Top 10."

Oh yeah, missing from their list? No cartoon characters and especially not Bambi!

The Exorcist took the top spot followed by The Shining and Halloween respectively.

Nice job! Cheerio!

We're Baaaacckk!

We thought it was fitting to make a formal announcement on Halloween that no we haven't forgotten about this project of ours.

We realize it's been a full month and a half since our last review, but things have been EXTREMELY crazy lately (here's a secret...Wifey's been a stick in the mud on this! LOL). And by "crazy" I mean to say that Wifey has been dragging her feet on wanting to watch another classic film.

That's right, I wrote it. I get the distinct feeling that she's none too thrilled about watching 73 more movies, several of which were at the theaters BEFORE she was even born. If it doesn't have color, a love story element, and a name and a face that she recognizes she doesn't want to see it!

She'll probably tell you that it's my turn to pick the next movie we watch so it's my responsibility to make things happen. Good excuse. I would respond by saying that it's kinda hard (the thrill is gone) when my partner in crime doesn't seem as excited as me about all of this. In fact, I don't even think she's read the last review posted about Taxi Driver yet.

That gives me an idea! Maybe what she needs is a movie that has more of a romantic element to it or a love interest of some kind.

Maybe we'll go with Bonnie & Clyde next. That settles it! Consider it done!

Lastly, in an effort to update this on a more regular basis (weekly is the plan) we're going to make a "rule" that every time we order 3 new movies from our Blockbuster Online account we have to make sure that at least 1 of them is from our OMD Queue.

That should speeds things up a bit.

Thank you to those of you who have patiently followed this site anxiously waiting for the next review. The wait is finally over!

Who Knew?

Who knew that a Disney cartoon from 1942 could strike fear and horror into the hearts of men and women everywhere?

Thanks to TIME for releasing this list of their Top 25 Horror Movies yesterday.

One entry they included on this list clearly illustrates the absurdity that can some times override our better judgment.

Surprisingly, they listed Bambi (1942) as one of the “Top 25 Horror Movies of All Time” because the film has a “primal shock that still haunts oldsters who saw it 40, 50, 65 years ago.”

Seriously? Seriously.

That’s interesting because I’ve never heard about anyone walking into a Blockbuster Video store on Halloween night looking for Bambi.

REVIEW: Taxi Driver

It's been almost an entire month since our last post and a 2 full months since our first review. I'm pleased to report that we've finally completed our second movie date. This time it was the #52 movie on AFI's list - - Taxi Driver.

This 1976 classic directed by Martin Scorsese and starring a very young Robert De Niro is at its simplest a story about a NYC cabbie who's ready to snap. Yet, like the main character there's so much more going un beneath the surface. Watch Trailer.


WIFEY'S REVIEW

Ok, second movie date and I got to choose this one. I was thinking a nice movie with some action seeing it was about driving in a taxi. Boy was I wrong!!!

We started the movie around 8:30pm and ended at 11pm. I had to stop at points to collect myself. This was a very hard movie to sit through. Now that I'm thinking about it, I think I would watch Citizen Kane 10 more times before I watch this one again.

This is how it went down...

In the beginning, there was lots of music and hardly any talking (BORING) and then Robert De Niro as the main actor (he was a VERY negative man). Not only was he a pill popper and a drinker, but he was also addicted to porn movie theaters (not someone I want driving me around). But I can say that when it came to asking a lady out he was very confident. He marched right into her office and asked her right out. His only downfall was that on the first date he took her to a movie. A porn movie!

One thing that really bothered me was that this guy Travis only slept once during the whole 2.5 hours we watched this movie. This was a very slow movie until we got to the very last half hour where it quickly became a violent movie.

Travis flipped out and wanted to kill all the pimps in the movie. Oh, did I forget to mention Jodi Foster (all of 13) was the main prostitute in the movie? Nice. So, the ending consisted of a major bloodbath. Sooooo not a chick flick!

I would rate this movie 1 out of 5 Ben & Jerry's Ice Creams. Next movie, I promise, will be a chick flick in some way!


HUBBY'S REVIEW

I guess it's fitting that waiting for this movie date was like waiting for a taxi in a major city.

I had seen this movie just once before and that was back in 1998 so this was like a new one to me. I knew from one of the opening lines ("Thank God for the rain that washed the garbage and the trash off the sidewalks...") that this was going to be a positive and uplifting film.

On a side note before I get started, what was America's fascination with taxi's in the '70s? Wasn't there a TV show - - a comedy - - about taxi drivers? Was that the glamorous profession of choice back then? But I digress.

Only 20 minutes into the movie I wrote down that Lindsay's face looked "priceless" so we were off to another great start.

I really like Wifey's point about De Niro's character Travis. This guy was a pretty shadey character himself. Ironic, because he hates everyone he deems "immoral" on the city streets ("This city is like an open sewer..."). Perhaps he hates them because they remind him of the things he hates about himself.

Movie Date Tip #1: On a first date, never, ever take her to a porno!

Movie Date Tip #2: The next day when you call to make nice, never, ever suggest that maybe the reason why she reacted the way she did is because she had "a virus" and is sick!

How twisted is that? This guy labels everyone who's not like him as being the problem. CLICHE ALERT: Now that's the pot calling the kettle black.

I did note how it was interesting to me that the same things that the public debates today (i.e. social issues/causes) were being debated by cabbies on their break back in the mid-'70s.

The gratuitous violence aside (nothing compared to today's standards, but at the time considered so), a couple of my major complaints involve stereotypes. First, why is it that Hollywood portrayed EVERY Vietnam Veteran as a social outcast who was a mass murderer in waiting? Remember Rambo? Second, why is it that Hollywood portrayed (and continues to potray) Christians as wackos ready to kill?

I can't remember the last time I heard about a war veteran or a Christian going on a killing spree. Quite the contrary! Just bothers me every time.

Wifey also mentioned the Jodi Foster character. If I remember correctly, Scorsese took a lot of heat for allowing an underage Foster to potray a prostitute in this film and there were allegations of subjecting her to a form of child abuse through this role.

It's frightening to think that there are people like this guy walking around every day and that these ticking time bombs are just waiting to explode.

It's fascinating that if Travis would've killed the Senator and Presidential candidate he would've been a villain. He kills a member of the mafia and a pimp (and saves a young runaway prostitute in the process) and he's instead a hero.

In the end, the entire movie is a prime example of what the world and society is like once God is removed. When people's hearts and minds are constantly focused on things like sin, the result is unfortunately a world that resembles the evil that exists in those innermost hidden parts. Only by changing hearts and minds to meditate on good, pure things will the world finally change for the better.

I gave Taxi Driver 3 Ben & Jerry's Ice Creams out of 5. Under our rating system that means that this movie earns 2 Ben & Jerry's Ice Creams from OMD.

We're Back!

It's been a long time since our last official movie-related post and I'm sure many of you thought this project was six-feet-under after only one screening.

Simply not true! As the summer winds down, things seem to be heating up since we've had family get-together after family get-together week-after-week for the last 2-3 weeks. Needless to say, it's been a little difficult finding the time to sit down and watch another movie.

However, things are returning to normal around here and Wifey has picked the next movie we'll be reviewing - - Taxi Driver.

I can't wait!

'Mo Money, No 'Mo Problems

This is way off topic, but we just had to share because it's truly an amazing blessing and hopefully an inspiring story for others in a similar position.

At the start of the year, our goal was to eliminate as much debt as possible. We're the first to admit that for a long time - - too long - - we were VERY irresponsible with our money and the resources that the good Lord gave us. In fact, our money seemed to tell us what to do instead of the other way around.

Realistically, we knew that we couldn't eliminate all of our debt in just 1 year so we decided that if we could at least eliminate the credit card debt (spread out across 3 different credit cards!) we'd consider it a HUGE success and a good start.

I'm extremely happy to report that in just 8 months (4 months ahead of schedule!) we paid off a total of $28, 923.69!!! It was probably closing to $30K, but I couldn't find our Transaction Register for the first month after we began all this.

It definitely wasn't easy, but it was definitely worth the sacrifice. Wifey and I created a strict monthly budget, tithed weekly, fought every now and then (like I said, it wasn't easy!) and often didn't have a single dollar in our wallets to spend during the last 8 months after weekly/monthly bills were paid.

While much of the credit (no pun intended!) goes to national financial guru Dave Ramsey and his MyTotalMoneyMakeover program/advice ALL OF THE CREDIT GOES TO GOD for answering our prayers in a way we never could've imagined.

Don't be a slave to your money any longer. Enjoy the freedom of paying for things with cash instead of credit. It is possible to live debt free regardless of what this world tells you. We're living proof as we continue on a path towards financial freedom!

I Have Something To Spout About...

Ok, I have 2 things to "spout" about actually.

First, take a seat Blogger because that cool Spout.com widget (you know, the one where you can create a personalized movie list that scrolls from left to right to display the actual movie posters of the films we've reviewed) doesn't work properly on your site anymore and it hasn't since last week. At least people from Spout and WidgetBox got back to me in a timely manner - - twice each - - to point out that everything's ok on their end. Please exterminate any bugs so that we can get that back up on our sidebar! That was probably the coolest feature of this entire site!

Second, the silence from Wifey this week has been deafening. I wonder if having to sit through her very first black-and-white movie was enough to make her rethink this whole thing. We'll see. Perhaps she'll surprise all of us with a selection for a second movie date this weekend. Besides, it's her choice to make this time around.

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.

REVIEW: Citizen Kane

Finally! Last night was our first official movie date to kick off this project. While we'll be choosing movies at random (and alternating from Wifey's pick to Hubby's pick) we decided we had to start off with the #1 film on AFI's list - - Citizen Kane. If nothing else, at least we'll know what every other movie we watch needs to be compared to. Watch Trailer.

The movie was scheduled to start at 9pm, but we never got started until about 9:20pm due to "technical difficulties" (translation: Hubby pulled his hair out trying to get all the plugs set-up correctly between the DVD player, TV and DISH Network box; we then spent another 10 minutes trying to figure out how to turn the damn Subtitles off!).

When the movie finally started we were both ready to go. We had our snacks and a notebook by our sides. The plan was to write down ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING that came to mind and/or happened during our movie date.



WIFEY'S REVIEW

Ok, so we tried starting the movie last night at 9pm and WOW did it start off with a lot a problems! First off, we couldn’t get the DVD to work down on the better TV in the house and when we finally did get it to work the captions were on and then that took us another 5-10 minutes to figure out how to turn them off, so when we finally got everything under control the real fun began!

1st complaint - - BLACK & WHITE!!!!
2nd complaint - - In the beginning, there were these black specks all over the screen! You know, the one’s only on REALLY old movies (sorry to those who may be offended by this).

9:40pm. I have NO CLUE on what’s going on in the movie. They’ve shown more animals, deaths, and divorces then I’ve seen in my whole entire life! So, as you can see, this movie is way out of my league!

So I’m sitting there watching this and the first thing I keep thinking about is “Has Warren Buffet seen this movie?” For those who haven’t seen this movie, it’s about a man who runs a newspaper company, who came into his fame and fortune by the age of 8 when his parents gave him away so they could then have money. See, it was all about money back then and as well as today.

Another thing I realized about this movie is that a majority of the props in the movie where fake (i.e. the rain was made from shinny streamers; the flames were fake made from cloth and lighting; etc.). Also, I thought Jeff was a workaholic! Kane slept in his office, which would be the day I would be ok with Jeff doing that.

One thing I didn’t like about this movie was that Kane was given his fame and fortune without really having to earn it himself. What’s that teaching the audience? No wonder his wives were so unhappy with such a greedy man!

So, with all that being said, I would give this movie 2 Ben & Jerry’s out of 5!

HUBBY'S REVIEW

I have to start by saying that I'm very impressed by Lindsay. This was the FIRST black-and-white movie she's ever watched! By 9:30pm (or just 10 minutes in) I could tell by the look on her face that she was dying for this movie to end and I even wrote down in my notebook that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. But, if she continues to write good, honest reviews like the one above this is going to work out better than I thought.

This was my third time watching this movie and I loved it as much as the first! AFI was right to put this at the top of their list 10 years ago and they were right to keep it there again this time around. No other American film has ever come close to being as complete as this one is.

This 1941 classic introduced Hollywood and the American public to one of the greatest filmmakers/actors of all time. Orson Welles, at only 25 years old, not only starred as the main character Charles Foster Kane, but he also wrote and directed this masterpiece.

Without getting too deep, Welles was the FIRST filmmaker to truly use a movie as an art form. This is demonstrated by the way he meticulously arranged EVERY SINGLE DETAIL (from the position of the Actors/Actresses, Shot,Camera Angle, Lighting, Sound, Dialogue, etc.) in order so that they would ALL contribute to the overall theme of the story. Bottom line, there's a reason why this movie is used in film schools across the country as teaching tool and why entire semesters are devoted to analyzing just a handful of scenes.

I don't think she mentioned it in here review, but Wifey commented at one point that Welles reminded her of the 1940's version of Leonardo DiCaprio and I think that's a good observation. Another point she made after the movie that I never thought of is how the Charles Kane character in the beginning says he "gagged on the silver spoon in his mouth..." although as he grew in power and fame it seemed to change him to the point where he couldn't live without being spoon-fed attention from others. Tragically, with or without it he was still a lost man.

So, what's the movie about? Simply put, it's about a man who had everything and then lost it all. It's about the "American Dream" becoming an American nightmare for one man. I'm just glad our first movie date didn't meet a similar fate.

I give this movie 5 Ben & Jerry's out of 5! Under our rating system, that means that Citizen Kane receives 3.5 Ben and Jerry's from OMD.

Introducing The OMD Queue

The anticipation's been building and we are pleased to present the Our Movie Date Queue (or the list of movies we'll be reviewing). Again, the rule was that if only one of us had seen a particular movie from the AFI list we had to watch it together.

We'll be selecting movies at random, one-by-one, and each time we review a movie we'll provide some details to keep things fun (i.e. Title, Brief Summary, Release Date, Awards, AFI Rank, OMD Rating and of course our own comments).

The following is the list of 69 movies we have to watch giving the Title, AFI Rank and Name of Person who never saw the movie.



Citizen Kane (AFI #1 / Wifey)
Casablanca (#3 / Both)
Raging Bull (#4 / Wifey)
Singin' in the Rain (#5 / Both)
Gone With the Wind (#6 / Both)
Lawrence of Arabia (#7 / Both)
Vertigo (#9 / Wifey)
The Searchers (#12 / Both)
2001: A Space Odyssey (#15 / Wifey)
Sunset Boulevard (#16 / Both)
The Graduate (#17 / Wifey)
On the Waterfront (#19 / Both)
It's A Wonderful Life (#20 / Wifey)
Chinatown (#21 / Wifey)
Some Like It Hot (#22 / Both)
Grapes of Wrath (#23 / Both)
To Kill A Mockingbird (#25 / Hubby)
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (#26 / Both)
High Noon (#27 / Both)
All About Eve (#28 / Both)
Double Indemnity (#29 / Wifey)
Apocalypse Now (#30 / Wifey)
Maltese Falcon (#31 / Both)
Godfather Series (#32, #33, #34 / Wifey)
Annie Hall (#35 / Wifey)
Bridge Over River Kwai (#36 / Both)
Best Years of Our Lives (#37 / Both)
Treasure of Sierra Madre (#38 / Both)
Dr. Strangelove (#39 / Wifey)
Bonnie & Clyde (#42 / Both)
Midnight Cowboy (#43 / Both)
Philadelphia Story (#44 / Both)
Shane (#45 / Both)
It Happened One Night (#46 / Both)
A Streetcar Named Desire (#47 / Both)
Rear Window (#48 / Wifey)
Taxi Driver (#52 / Wifey)
Deer Hunter (#53 / Wifey)
MASH (#54 / Both)
North By Northwest (#55 / Wifey)
Nashville (#59 / Both)
Sullivan's Travel (#61 / Both)
American Graffitti (#62 / Wifey)
Cabaret (#63 / Both)
Network (#64 / Wifey)
African Queen (#65 / Both)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe? (#67 / Both)
Unforgiven (#69 / Wifey)
Tootsie (#70 / Wifey)
A Clockwork Orange (#71 / Wifey)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (#73 / Both)
In The Heat of the Night (#75 / Both)
All the President's Men (#77 / Both)
The Wild Bunch (#79 / Both)
The Apartment (#80 / Both)
Spartacus (#81 / Both)
Easy Rider (#85 / Both)
A Night At The Opera (#86 / Both)
12 Angry Men (#87 / Wifey)
Bringing Up Baby (#88 / Both)
Swing Time (#90 / Both)
Sophie's Choice (#91 / Both)
Goodfellas (#92 / Wifey)
The French Connection (#93 / Wifey)
The Last Picture Show (#95 / Both)
Do The Right Thing (#96 / Both)
Blade Runner (#97 / Both)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (#98 / Both)
Ben Hur (#100 / Both)

Man, is that a lot of typing!

False Information!

OK, so last night we never made it through the movie. We never even watched it! First off, it was just shy of 2 hours long and second off it was 11:00pm when we were going to start it. What was I thinking? So, we might give it a shot tonight. Stay tuned to find out the results.